30 Jan Vitamin D’s Crucial Role in Weight Loss
Vitamin D – known popularly as the “sunshine vitamin” – is critical for a vast array of biological functions, including keeping your metabolism humming along at full speed for proper weight management.
Here, we’ll briefly explore what vitamin D is and how it supports healthy weight loss (and why you probably don’t have enough).
When you’re ready, book a convenient one-on-one telehealth consultation at a time of your choosing with Dr. Moma to discuss your weight loss goals – you don’t even have to leave your home!
What is vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a vital fat-soluble nutrient. Its status as a “vitamin” is actually misleading, as it is technically a steroid hormone.
The liver converts cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) into biologically active calcifediol (25-hydroxycholecalciferol), which then travels throughout the body through the blood doing critical work (including regulating metabolism, or energy storage and use).
Although some foods such as fish, dairy, and fortified foods may contain modest amounts of vitamin D, the vast majority of vitamin D for humans is sourced from sunlight. That’s why vitamin D deficiency is most severe in winter for most patients, and why supplementation is suggested in most cases.
How does vitamin D boost weight loss?
Multiple studies have linked higher body fat with low vitamin D levels.
In one study of overweight women, the women who achieved optimal vitamin D levels lost an average of 7 more pounds during the trial period compared to the trial subjects with suboptimal vitamin D levels.
Yet another study of nearly 5,000 women found that higher vitamin D levels were correlated to less weight gain between doctor visits over a period of nearly 5 years.
Interestingly, vitamin D is theorized to aid in weight loss in multiple ways:
- Vitamin D prevents new fat cell formation
- Vitamin D increases serotonin levels, normalizing the sleep-wake cycle, itself important for weight management
- Vitamin D suppresses fat cell storage
- Vitamin D boosts testosterone, itself an important hormone for weight loss
Most Americans are deficient in vitamin D
Due to most Americans’ limited sun exposure, sub-optimal diets, high stress levels, and other factors, vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among the US population.
If you haven’t had your levels tested recently, Dr. Moma can help. An inexpensive and quick blood test can determine your supply of vitamin D.
If you are indeed vitamin D deficient, as the majority of US adults are, supplementation can reverse the deficiency and restore vitamin D levels for boosted weight loss as well as improved immunity, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and other health benefits.
Contact Dr. Moma for expert weight loss therapy
To learn more about the importance of vitamin D for weight loss or other supplements proven to support healthy weight loss, please contact Dr. Sylvienash Moma, DNP
When you’re ready to get serious about weight loss, Dr. Moma is ready to put her years of clinical experience helping patients into action for you.
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